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Reviews > Knives > Folding > Victorinox Classic Pocket Knife > Owner Review by Russell CurryOWNER REVIEW
VICTORINOX CLASSIC POCKET KNIFE  OWNER INFORMATION: Name: Russell Curry Age: 57 Gender: Male Height: 6’0” (1.83 m) Weight: 190 lbs (86 kg) Email Address: dpro@datarecall.net City, State, Country: Orange, TX, US Date: December 6, 2004 BACKPACKING BACKGROUND I began backpacking in 1966 but only in earnest 7 years ago, as I had more free time from my career and my children were grown and out of the home. I have hiked extensively in Western and Eastern Texas, the Grand Canyon & other Arizona sites, Utah, Colorado, Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas, and in the Bavarian Alps in Germany, in a variety of terrain, desert, mountains and forested areas. I hike often, even if just locally, in all seasons. My style varies from medium weight to ultralight depending upon the weather, location, and distance involved. Product Information from the Victorinox website: Manufacturer: Victorinox URL of Manufacturer: http://www.victorinox.com Year of Manufacture: 2002 Model: Classic Pocket Knife Length: 2 1/4" (58 mm) Thickness: 5/16" (8 cm) Weight (as received) 1/2 oz (14 g) Width (as received) 5/16" (8 mm) PRODUCT DESCRIPTION The Victorinox Classic pocket knife is a 7 featured knife that serves as a multi-tool pocket knife for light duty, emergency use and as a key chain. The tools are made of stainless steel, and the knife has a hard plastic body. It is very light in weight, is a dark red in color, with the Victorinox logo on the handle of the knife. The 7 features of the knife are:
Knife Blade - The knife blade comes very sharp, is easy to open and is very strong for its size. It has a sharp point and is good for the things that I need a sharp, small knife blade for while backpacking The blade holds an edge well, is easy to sharpen using a wetstone and has held up well to the limited use I have put it to. Nail File - same length and width as the knife blade, has the filing area on one side, with a flattened tip that serves as a nail cleaner, but would also serve as a small screwdriver. The width of the flat screwdriver blade is 1/8" (3 mm). The screwdriver blade is not adapted to use for phillips screw heads. Nail Cleaner - Victorinox lists this as a separate feature, which I guess it is, but it is just the flattened tip of the nail file.  Scissors - single spring with a shear capacity of 5/8" (16 mm) in length. The scissors are very sharp and have cut everything that I have tried to cut with them. This has been paper, cardboard, leather the thickness of the tongue on my shoes, finger and toe nails, nylon cord, string, and webbing on backpacks. So far the blades have held their edge very well. I have never had to sharpen the blades, and would have difficulty sharpening them if needed due to their small size.  Key Ring - a 3/8" (10 mm) diameter split ring that forms the key chain, or for me, used to suspend the knife from my lanyard. The split ring would only hold 1 or 2 keys at most, and would not hold the newer car keys that have the electronics built into them. Tweezers - stainless tweezers are 1 3/4" x 1/8", (44 x 3 mm), with squared tips. I have used them to removed splinters acquired while hiking. The tweezers have a plastic head on them, gray in color, and slide into the handle of the knife on one end for storage. They are easy to remove and replace into the knife. There is a compression type fit when the tweezers are in the handle that prohibits them from falling out. The plastic head is color coded to distinguish them from the toothpick. Toothpick - an item maybe not thought about to much when backpacking, however, this item really comes in handy after eating if you can't brush. In a worst case scenario, I can use the end opposite the pick to clean inside my ears. The toothpick is made of plastic, is 2 3/4" long x 1/8" wide (70 x 3 mm) and has a flattened point. The toothpick is white in color, and stores opposite the tweezers in the handle. The toothpick "snaps" into its slot to prevent it from falling out of the handle. The color makes it easy to distinguish the toothpick from the tweezers.  FIELD EXPERIENCE This little knife never leaves my pack. I keep it on my lanyard with my compass, whistle and other similar items. I do not use it frequently, but when I have needed the knife, it has never disappointed me. It is very light in weight and is sufficient in length and width to make it easy to use the knife or any of its features, even with my gloves on that I use with my hiking poles. I tried a few other smaller knives before settling on this one, and I am pleased so far with this choice. I have had it exposed to rain, sand, dirt, food and drinks, snow, rocks and other elements and it has held up very well. LIKES Weight Size Durability Features DISLIKES Would have liked another tool besides the nail file (an icepick type tool comes to mind) SUMMARY Nice little knife that can be used for light chores, for emergencies or just to carry around on a key chain or lanyard as I do. I was surprised at how much I used the scissors after I first started carrying this knife in my pack. I like 6 of the 7 features, but have just never had much use for a nail file when backpacking. Other than that, it has served me well and I intend to keep using it and will replace it with another one if lost. My Classic knife is holding up well, its stainless blades show no signs of rust or discoloration, the plastic body has no cracks, only the little scratches from being bounced around on my lanyard. I never oil this knife, just a quick rinse after use in water has always been sufficient. Read more reviews of Victorinox gear Read more gear reviews by Russell Curry Reviews > Knives > Folding > Victorinox Classic Pocket Knife > Owner Review by Russell Curry | |||